Enduring ideas/understandings: big concepts about a topic
(subject) or theme (idea about the subject) that students should comprehend
and retain after theyve forgotten many of the details

Essential questions: questions that guide teaching and engage
students in uncovering the important ideas at the heart of a topic
of study

Performance tasks: activities that allow the learner to demonstrate
his or her understanding through a scenario, employing a goal and
a role to create a product or performance for a given audience

Process-centered learning: the experience of students actively
engaged in exploration and problem solving, learning through firsthand
experience

Standards of Learning (SOLs): criterion-referenced tests
in Virginia that compare a students mastery of specific curriculum
against a test standard

Team teaching: an instructional approach in which two or
more instructors are jointly responsible for course content, presentations,
and grading; they may interact in front of the class, discussing specific
topics from divergent perspectives, and take turns presenting material
appropriate to their individual areas of specialization

Unit objectives: knowledge and skills necessary for students
to demonstrate their understandings of essential questions